Newport suffered a 5-1 defeat away to second placed Hill Celtic on Sunday morning, with veteran P J O’Rourke on the mark for Newport. While the result was disappointing, the C team is being mainly used as a transitional team for our younger players to develop and make the step up from schoolboy to junior football, while being guided by some of the club’s more senior players.

Some of the young players who played today included Aidan Healy, Cian Power, Sean O’Dwyer, Liam Byrne, Thomas Carroll and our man of the match, Harry Sheehy. However it was one of our more experienced players, P J O’Rourke, who showed the younger lads how to find the net, when he lobbed the keeper with a super shot from outside the box after burning the full back on the wing.

Another point of interest today was the welcome return of former A team player of the year, Kieran ‘Fletch’ O’Sullivan, who made his comeback in midfield.

Newport welcomed Bruff to Derryleigh Park in their Div 4 league encounter on Sunday afternoon. This game was one of the very few games to get the green light after Storm Clodagh decimated the Limerick League fixtures in all divisions. Great credit is due to our ground staff, Johnny O’Brien & Kevin ‘Gazza’ Healy for the superb condition of our pitches following the recent spell of bad weather.

The first half was a tight affair and Newport matched Bruff, currently third in the league, in every department. In the absence of team coaches, Chris Carroll & Timmy Sheehy, the stand-in management team of Ger ‘Herbie’ Healy and Mike ‘Bun’ O’Donoghue were quietly satisfied with the first half performance. Continue reading →